Dear Neighbor,
Across the United States today, many individuals and grassroots organizations are participating in economic boycotts directed primarily at multi-billion-dollar corporations that have dismantled their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives or otherwise backtracked on anti-discrimination policies.
Our collective purchasing power can have meaningful political power, so while it’s noble to exercise the power of your purse or wallet for one day, it’s also important to think about how we reallocate our spending dollars to have an ongoing impact.
If you’re looking for long-term strategies to decentralize your spending from big, politically influenced and politically influential corporations, now is the perfect time to check out some of the local, independently owned businesses in our region and find ways to make a lasting impact with the money you spend.
When we shop at locally owned businesses, more of our dollars stay right here in our community and contribute to sustainable local economies. Small businesses give our neighborhoods unique personality, help to build our community identity, and provide a living for independent business owners, their employees, and their families — which helps all of us to thrive.
Our local Chambers of Commerce have business directories that make it easy to research local and regional businesses, from restaurants and retail shops to professional services, credit unions, and banks:
The Exton Region Chamber of Commerce and Women’s Business Connection also offer lists of woman-owned businesses in Chester County, and Main Line Today and PA Eats have recently published lists of Black-owned businesses and restaurants in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
For local produce and other agricultural products, the annual Chester County Farm Guide lists local farmers markets, farm stores, and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs. Agriculture is still Chester County’s largest industry, and when you buy from local farmers and producers, you help to ensure Chester County farms are here to stay. (The above link goes to the 2024 Farm Guide; look for the new, 2025 edition sometime in April.)
Standing up for Medicaid and CHIP
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania House Democrats sent a letter to our U.S. Congressional delegation from Pennsylvania urging them to vote "NO" on a plan that cuts $880 Billion from the agency that oversees Medicaid, Medicare, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) while funding $4.5 Trillion in tax breaks for the super-rich.
Republican members of Congress insist that the cuts would not affect these critical insurance programs, but a New York Times analysis found that, “if the committee cuts everything that’s not health care to $0, it will still be more than $600 billion short” of the $880 billion proposed.
Cuts to Medicaid and CHIP would affect access to essential services like healthcare, home care, housing, and prescription coverage for more than three million Pennsylvanians, including seniors, children, and adults with disabilities. The loss of Medicaid (known as Medical Assistance in Pennsylvania) would also impact jobs and access to healthcare for millions more people in rural, suburban, and urban counties across the commonwealth, as hospitals and provider agencies would be forced to close.
Our caucus urged the Congressional delegation to put people ahead of politics and vote against this plan. But that night, all Pennsylvania Republicans in Congress voted "Yes" on the plan. The resolution now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration. If you or a family member would be affected by cuts to Medicaid or CHIP, be sure to share your story with Senator Fetterman and Senator McCormick.
State Budget Hearing Updates
We just wrapped up the second week of budget hearings in Harrisburg, and this week several of the agencies related to my committee assignments had the opportunity to discuss their budgetary requests as well as how those funds will be used to reinvest in our communities.
This week, the House heard from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Department of State, Department of Labor and Industry, Office of the Attorney General, Department of Agriculture, Judiciary, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and Department of Aging.
Only Appropriations Committee members and the chairs of the committees relevant to each hearing’s testimony are permitted to ask questions in the hearings, but my staff and I have followed the proceedings closely. On Monday, I was especially interested to hear testimony from Acting PDE Secretary Dr. Carrie Rowe and senior staff at the Department of Education on the Governor’s budget proposal for public education.
Throughout the hearing, we heard about the need to make progress toward closing our adequacy gaps, how the elimination of the federal Department of Education would impact Pennsylvania schools, and the findings of the recently released Auditor General report on cyber charter spending practices.
Here are some highlights from the PDE hearing, and remarks from Acting Secretary Rowe:
“To say that I was anything less than exceptionally concerned … would be an understatement…It seems to me that an $8,000 tuition wouldn’t harm the cyber schools … while at the same time it will provide some relief to school districts who need it the most.”
“The program was so popular that there were more applicants than slots, and it became a sort of ‘student teacher stipend hunger games.’ Mr. Shapiro’s proposal, applied to a rate of $10,000 per student teacher, would mean we are definitely closing in on being able to fully fund this and avoid more student teachers having to work second jobs or take on additional debt.”
School funding is always one of the most significant areas of negation in our annual state budget, and this year, the conversations are further complicated by the chaos at the federal level creating uncertainty around federal funding, which would deeply affect things like special education programs across the commonwealth and instructional support for students in under-resourced districts. I will continue to share updates as we receive them.
All budget hearings are livestreamed for the public to view. You can find a full schedule of 2025 budget hearings here, and find livestreams and testimony for past and future hearings here. Hearings will continue through the end of next week.